End of the world on Friday? Not likely

By Mallory EvansThe ReviewPublished: December 20, 2012 3:00AM

Whether you believe the world is ending on Friday or you think the whole idea is a hoax, the apocalypse is a common topic of conversation.

The predicted Dec. 21, 2012, apocalypse is tied by many theorists to the Mayan calendar as it completes a 5,000-year cycle, or "baktun." Theorists and scholars disagree about whether the calendar's cycle points to the end, or simply to another baktun.

"Well of course nothing is going to happen on Dec. 21," Julio Pino, assistant professor of history at Kent State University, said. Pino's expertise is Latin American History and he has never met an academic or a Maya expert who believed the calendar points to doomsday.

"My advice is that people should wrap their Christmas gifts and pay all their bills because we're still going to be here," James Seelye, assistant professor of history at Kent State University's Stark Campus, said. Seelye's concentration of study is American Indian history. According to Seelye, the present-day Maya do not believe that the calendar's end will result in an apocalyptic event. "They think this is hilarious," he said.

Seelye said that the doomsday prophecy is a misreading of history. The Mayan "Long Count" calendar completes a 5,000 year era on Dec. 21. "The Maya, like most American Indian groups, have a cyclical world view," he said. This may be the end of one cycle, but another will just take its place.

There are discrepancies among theorists about what the end would look like. Changes in galactic or planetary alignment, polar shifts or geomagnetic reversal are all in the running. Another theory suggests that the Earth will enter into a super black hole. NASA has reported that a collision between Earth and another planet or comet is not going to happen in the immediate future.

Doomsday adherents also disagree about whether the Mayan calendar expiration will result in the destruction of Earth or ushering in of a new spiritual age.

Pino said that there is a disconnect between this spiritualism and the doomsday ideas. "People project their own views of the world onto an ancient civilization," he said.

Cindy DePillo, chairperson of the Tri-County UFO Study Group, does not believe that the world will end on Friday, but she does say that planet Earth should expect continued changes in the near future. DePillo said that the National UFO Reporting Center has filed nearly 500 sightings in the last month. "I'm not saying that these are all UFOs, but people are seeing more activity out there," she said.

DePillo will not hunker down in a bunker and wait to see if the end comes. Instead, she plans to keep her normal schedule, and even made a dentist appointment.

According to Pino, end of the world predictions are sensationalized and used to sell movies and magazines. Tourists and spiritualists from around the world are planning to attend Dec. 21 celebrations in Latin American countries like Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Seelye said that history is dotted with end of the world predictions. Apocalyptic themes have appeared in literature, traditions and popular culture for thousands of years. In the Bible, Jesus states that no one can predict the hour or day of the world's end. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. … So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24: 36, 44).

This has not stopped countless speculations and predictions about the precise date of the end. Family Radio broadcaster Harold Camping, for example, has confidently, yet incorrectly, predicted the end of the world three times.

The entertainment industry consistently produces books and movies depicting the end of the world and the times to follow. The Mayan doomsday prophecy makes a specific appearance in the apocalyptic feature film, "2012."

Audiences and readers are curious to see what the world might look like after an apocalypse. "We don't like what we don't know. We want to be certain in an age of uncertainty," Seelye said.

Post-apocalyptic stories often serve as cautionary tales which say, if mankind doesn't change its behaviors, civilization as we know it will disappear. From the ancient Mesopotamian myth "The Epic of Gilgamesh," to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," readers have long been fascinated by the idea that the rug might be pulled out from underneath them without warning. Pino said that apocalyptic fascination grows out of people's desire to give meaning to their lives and the universe.

According to Seelye, Pino and DePillo, go ahead and schedule that blind date, DVR your favorite Friday night TV show, and keep planning your holiday parties. If Dec. 21 ushers in the end of the world or is just another winter day, living each day to the fullest is never a bad idea.